BANGS – In a match that featured several ebbs and flows, the Early Lady Horns were able to wrestle a little more of the momentum away from the Bangs Lady Dragons en route to a 26-24, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20 District 8-3A volleyball victory Saturday.
With the win, Early (14-17, 4-7) remained within striking distance of the fourth and final playoff seed from District 8-3A, while Bangs (12-14, 2-9) was essentially eliminated from postseason contention with three matches remaining.
“It was a good match, good sets all the way through and we had to fight for every point,” said Early head coach Missy Vaughn. “We started off slow, out of our rhythm and routine, but we took care of what we needed to.”
In the opening set, Bangs jumped out to a 14-4 advantage and led 24-11. However, behind the serving of Taylor Summers, Early reeled off 15 consecutive points and stormed back for a 26-24 victory.
“The consistency of serves put us back in that game,” Vaughn said. “Taylor did a great job with that and we were really focused.”
In the second set, Early opened a 21-17 edge only to witness Bangs close with eight of the last 10 points to knot the match at one set apiece.
As was the case in the first two sets, a seemingly comfortable lead didn’t last as the Lady Dragons surged in front 18-13. But the Lady Horns answered with nine of the next 12 points to grab a 22-21 lead and eventual victory.
Early also overcame a 15-12 deficit in the fourth set, notching 13 of the last 18 points to secure the victory.
For the Lady Horns, Hadalee Saunders led the way with 10 kills followed by Summers with seven, Carrigan Norris with four, Jordan Simmons with three and Bethany Tomlinson and Gabby Leal with one each.
Tomlinson dished out 25 assists while Summers served three aces and Grace LaRue chipped in one.
Defensively, Summers logged six digs, LaRue and Mattyson Boswell tallied two each and Saunders and Norris were both credited with one.
Simmons and Saunders led the way with two blocks apiece and Summers chipped in one.
For Bangs, Jacee Miller recorded a game-high 14 kills trailed by seven each from Maggie Morales seven and Jadyn Miller, three from Wipada Pakaew, two from Neeley Bradley, and one by Kelsey Solis.
Laynie Evans distributed 15 assists, Hadley King added 11, Bradley contributed two, and Morales finished with one.
Jadyn Miller served four aces while Jacee Miller added a pair.
Defensively, Jacee Miller collected 31 digs followed by Raylee Hutchins with 13, Jadyn Miller with 12, Evans and McKenzie Hughes with eight each, King with seven, Bradley with five, Julianna Ethridge with four, Rachel Solis with two, and Pakaew and Joey Newton with one apiece
Morales notched three blocks while Rachel Solis and Pakaew finished with two each.
Early hosts Eastland at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday while Bangs heads to Brock to a 5:30 p.m. encounter.
